Deppe, Benjamin F.

DEPPE, SCHROEDER, BERKEY, KRAMPE, KRESAN, STOCK, BOEDEKER, KANNE

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/28/2009 at 21:47:15

Deppe, Benjamin F.

It is doubtful if any people that go to make up our cosmopolitan civilization have better habits of life than those who came originally from the great German empire. The descendants of these people are distinguished for their thrift and honesty, and these two qualities in the inhabitants of any country will eventually make that country great among the nations of the earth. When with these two qualities are coupled the other attributes of sound sense and correct habits, as most all German descendants seem to possess, there are afforded such qualities as will enrich any land and place it in the front rank of the nations of the earth in the scale of elevated humanity. Of this excellent people came the Deppe family, one of the best known of Jasper County, where they have long been well established and of whom Benjamin F. Deppe, progressive farmer of Malaka Township, is a worthy representative, being of the second generation of the family in America. He has been a diligent worker in his chosen field of endeavor and has been rewarded by large success, and, having minded well his own affairs and kept the even tenor of his way through all the years, he has earned the good will and esteem of his neighbors and many acquaintances.
Mr. Deppe was born in Malaka Township, Jasper County, Iowa, and here he grew to manhood, received his education and has spent his life in agricultural pursuits, although he prepared himself for a business career, having completed the commercial course in the Newton Normal College. His birth occurred on February 14, 1874, and he is the son of Adolph and Wilhelmina (Schroeder) Deppe, both natives of Germany, from which country they immigrated to the United States, locating in Jasper County, Iowa, where they became well established, the death of the father occurring here in 1884. He assisted in laying the foundation of the recent Jasper County courthouse. There were six children in this family, all living, namely: Mrs. Etta Berkey, born September 17, 1857, lives in Baxter; Mrs. Mary Krampe lives in Baxter; William lives in Malaka Township; Edward lives in Malaka Township; Benjamin, of this sketch; Mrs. Emma Kresan, of Frankville. These children were born and reared in Jasper County.

Benjamin F. Deppe was married February 25, 1903, to Anna Stock, who was born in Independence Township, this County, October 26, 1882, and here she grew to womanhood and received her education in the public schools. She is the daughter of Frank and Frederika (Boedeker) Stock, the father born in Lippe-Detmold, Germany, and the mother in Wisconsin. They are now living in Baxter, he being seventy years old and she sixty.

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Stock, eight of whom are living, namely: Lena, born August 10, 1876, lives with her parents in Baxter; August, born in 1878, lives in Independence Township; Anna, wife of Mr. Deppe, of this sketch; Mrs. Lydia Kanne, born April 20, 1881, lives in Malaka Township; William lives in Independence Township; Henry, born in 1885, is deceased; Clara lives at home in Baxter; Emma and Lizzie, twins, born in 1890, live with their brother on the home farm in Independence Township. These children were born and reared in this Township.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Deppe, namely: Reuben A., born November 20, 1905; Edna A., born October 6, 1907. These children were born in Malaka Township, and the eldest is attending school here.

Politically, Mr. Deppe is a Republican, and he has been school director in this community. He and his wife are members of the German Reformed Church in Independence Township.

Mr. Deppe is the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Malaka Township, which he has brought up to a high state of improvement and cultivation, on which he carries on general farming and stock raising successfully. He has a very pleasant and well-furnished home and substantial outbuildings. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1144.